International Student-Athlete Struggles

Lexi Bedier: What it’s Like Being an International Ice Hockey Athlete at Penn State

By Lilia Farach|Updated on July 14, 2023 (originally published on March 3, 2022)

Athlete Interviews are posted every Thursday for recruiting advice, what to look for, and more.

Lexi Bedier plays on the women's ice hockey team at The Pennsylvania State University. She is an international student-athlete from Canada and has played hockey for many years. Lexi played for Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna of the CSSHL in 2020-21 and Pursuit of Excellence from 2018-20. Her team won theCSSHL title and Stoney Creek Sabres University Showcase in the 2018-19 season. Lexi personally recorded 20 points in 41 games from 2018-21. She is starting her NCAA journey at PSU.

She talks about what it is like being an international student-athlete and the challenges that come with it, including homesickness.

You are from Calgary Alberta, Canada. What is it like studying abroad?
Very very different from any kind of college environment that I'm used to or that I've seen. There's a real sense of community here and a lot more emphasis, say athletics, and different events like THON… you wouldn't see so much in Canada, there's a lot more kind of kids living at home and then just traveling to campus, especially in western canada. It's different on some of the bigger campuses like UBC and UFT, but in general it's a lot less community feeling at Penn State.

How long have you been playing Ice Hockey and what made you pursue such a sport?
My dad played hockey at all levels and he was the main reason I got into hockey. I've been playing since I was 5 or 6, and he's been carrying me on the ice for about the time I was 1 or 2. He was kind of my main reason, and I had a very active family anyways, my mom played a lot of sports. Playing a sport was non-negotiable but hockey was the first one I was put into.

What made you think of the US and Penn State specifically?
I actually… this is a little controversial but I was committed to Ohio State for about a year and a half prior to coming to Penn State. I knew I wanted to be in the US because of the level, a lot of Canadians come from Canada to come to the US just because the NCAA is such a revered and high level of hockey. So I was committed to Ohio State and I loved that big campus and big sports school feel, with COVID and everything, that opportunity and that deal kind of fell to the side but I am very very grateful for that considering where I ended up. Penn State is by far the coolest school I've seen. I did have some options as to where I wanted to go and this by far took the cake.

Would you say that being an international student in a DI Sport has its benefits? Why or why not?
Yeah absolutely. I mean I won't lie to you, being a DI athlete is incredibly difficult. Takes a lot of dedication, a lot of time management, a lot of perseverance and you really have to love what you're doing because it is so hard a lot of times that your love for the game or your love for the school is really gonna be the only thing that gets you through it. So i definitely think that moving forward it's one of those experiences that it just builds you and builds you and creates this person, it molds this person that will be able to handle so much in the outside world and you really learn those skills, those time management, that determination, that work ethic, that you need. And we're exposed very very early and we're exposed to whether that be rejection or success early, we have to learn how to handle that so I think it's a really beneficial experience.

What was the most challenging part of recruiting internationally?
Internationally I would say the hardest part is exposure. Being from Western Canada, it's a little bit easier on the east coast for girls who live in Ontario or Quebec. But being from Alberta or even British Columbia, right on the west coast there, there's no hockey schools on the west coast in the States, so it's very difficult to be seen by those schools. You have to do a lot of traveling, we did a lot of tournaments and other things that meant that I had to leave where I was. I ended up moving away from home when I was 14/15 just to get that exposure. Which is extremely common for young girls to move away from home that young in order to pursue that Division I dream.

As an international student what would you say was the most challenging thing to achieve before coming to PSU or thinking about a DI team?
There was a couple definitely challenging aspects. One was definitely after being decommitted from Ohio State, that was in November of my grade 12 year. So at that point, normally girls commit when I committed the first time which is around grade 9 or 10 which is extremely early, it's hard to know what you want at that age. But you're making a choice, you're on the phone that's how most recruiting happens, you're talking to coaches on the phone, you're making zoom calls seeing their arenas. Every athlete, covid willing, gets 5 official visits so the school will fly you out, they'll pay for it all for you to come see their school. I didn't take any of those strictly because of COVID, I took one to Ohio. So I actually committed to Penn State having not seen it other than photos and zoom presentations. I think that the most difficult part of that recruiting process is being seen, the initial communication comes through your high school coach. It's just a very tedious process, there's a lot of rules of when you're allowed to talk to the coach, and what you're allowed to say and all those things. Staying within those rules and then still having those in-depth conversations with coaches to figure out where your home for the next 4 years is gonna be and making sure that it really is a good fit.

Would you say that Penn State met your expectations without ever coming to campus?
I would say it exceeded for sure. I knew, I heard it was a beautiful campus but it was one of those places that you don't understand until you've been there, so I was very very happy when I got to campus and saw this place.

If you had the option to try out another sport, given the offer, what would that be and why?
I used to play box lacrosse, which is indoor, it's a little different from field lacrosse. I think that I would try field lacrosse, or I always really liked volleyball. So if I was any good at it, that would've been a cool sport to play as well… that interest just came from playing high school sports.

How do you overcome homesickness while you're here on campus?
The most important thing I think for overcoming those kinds of waves of homesickness is just being in touch with your family. I'll call them, ill facetime them, that's really all you can do. There's always that being so far away from home I don't get to go home very often, my parents just can't come out on weekends just anytime, it's at least three flights if you fly from state college. It's quite the process to get home or for anyone to come visit. So when I am feeling a little bit homesick, I just really try to grab myself back to maybe some photos, talk with my parents, and always booking trips far in advance so I have something to look forward to. My parents when they leave, even if it's not for another 4 to 6 weeks, they'll book right away so that I know, ‘okay I'm gonna see them at this time and I can push through ‘till then.'

What do you miss most?
I'm extremely fortunate to live about an hour from Banff and two hours from Lake Louise and very close to a lot of incredible scenery. Places that I didn't realize how beautiful they were until I left. I miss my family, my puppy Todd, and I just miss being home, the mountains, I miss Canada. It really is such a beautiful place.

What's the biggest difference between playing in Canada vs here?
To speak about hockey a little bit: it's a little bit of a different style of play. At least when I was coming out through Canadian hockey, it was more kind of heavy. There's so many hockey players in Canada from all over that it was a very competitive and heavy environment and playing in the hockey Canada system, being very systematic. Where in the states there is a lot more flow, more skill-based styles. And then the other biggest thing, the people are different. There's not one that is necessarily better than the other, but Canadian girls and American girls grew up in totally different places. They have different mannerisms and it's just very interesting to come from western Canada to eastern United States and see those differences.

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